lovenovelstory Chapter 65: Two Enemy Units Destroyed, but Own Casualties Increase
Chapter 65: Two Enemy Units Destroyed, but Own Casualties Increase
"Travel seat!!!"
Hua Pinzhang saw this and wanted to help, but there was still some distance between them.
Just then, gunshots rang out.
"Bang bang bang!!"
Three gunshots rang out clearly, each bullet eliminating an enemy.
All three Japanese soldiers were knocked to the ground.
Zhu Chi saw the three Japanese soldiers lying on the ground and subconsciously turned his head away.
Li Jianghe stood there looking down at him, his Mauser pistol still emitting white smoke.
Behind him, hundreds of Nationalist soldiers, armed with rifles and submachine guns, charged forward and engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese troops below.
"Rivers!"
Zhu Chi's eyes welled up with tears, and he couldn't help but cry out.
Li Jianghe grinned.
"If you'd been any later, I'd have to collect your corpse."
Zhu Chi laughed heartily.
"Then I'll use this life to kill a few more Japanese devils."
After saying that, he roared, turned around, swung his chipped broadsword, and charged at the Japanese soldiers again.
On the city wall of Zhonghua Gate, Gao Zhisong breathed a sigh of relief as he watched through his binoculars as Zhu Chi finally escaped danger.
"They actually held on. This Li Jianghe is quite capable."
Sun Yuanliang, standing to the side, asked in surprise.
Gao Zhisong nodded and said:
"Yes, this Li Jianghe is really tough; he managed to hold his own against all this."
Sun Yuanliang looked at Yuhuatai with a complicated expression in his eyes. He thought to himself, "This Li Jianghe is probably only one faction and a powerful backer away from becoming a big shot."
Looking at the Japanese soldiers retreating again, Suematsu Shigeharu knew that continuing the charge was pointless, and this attack had failed once again.
The key issue is that the losses were extremely heavy; two tank companies and eight infantry companies were almost completely wiped out.
Some were killed by the enemy, but a considerable number were killed by artillery fire.
"We're preparing to continue the attack this afternoon. The enemy has suffered heavy casualties this time, and they can't hold out much longer."
"It was Suematsu Shigeharu who said it in a cold voice."
Just as Suematsu Shigeharu had predicted, the defenders at Yuhuatai suffered extremely heavy losses.
Li Jianghe's Provisional 3rd Regiment suffered over 300 dead and over 400 wounded, with casualties exceeding 700, most of whom were combatants.
Xu Dingguo's Fifth Regiment suffered 200 dead and over 300 wounded.
Zhu Chi's 262nd Brigade suffered nearly half its losses, with a total of over a thousand casualties.
The total number of casualties at the Yuhuatai position was around 2,400, with more than one-third of the personnel lost.
On the Japanese side, the total casualties were around 2,300, but their kill rate was extremely high, with nearly 2,000 dying directly on the battlefield or on the way to the charge.
Only a few soldiers managed to escape back.
Although he repelled the Japanese invaders and gained a lot of merit points, Li Jianghe was not happy.
Because the losses were also quite heavy, and he needed to summon more troops to make up for the current troop shortage at Yuhuatai.
These soldiers not only needed to reinforce the positions they were responsible for, but also the positions they were responsible for at the 262nd Brigade.
Add to that the relentless losses of shells, bombs, bullets, and other supplies, the large quantities of medical resources consumed by the wounded, and the newly summoned medical teams, and the consumption of merit points becomes even greater.
Looking at the corpses piled up on the hillside, Long Wenzhang once again sang the lyrics and music for summoning the souls.
"May your soul return..."
The plaintive sound echoed across the hillside, and everyone watched this scene with solemn expressions.
Those were their comrades-in-arms who had shared life and death, now lying there quietly, as if asleep.
But everyone knows they will never wake up, never.
"salute!!!"
Li Jianghe shouted loudly.
"Whoosh!!!!"
The soldiers saluted in unison, using this simplest of ceremonies to bid farewell to their comrades-in-arms.
At this moment, Zhu Chi staggered over. He had also been injured in the fierce battle just now, with a shrapnel from a ghost bullet biting his leg.
The fighting was so intense that, under the stimulation of adrenaline, I even forgot the pain.
Later I realized, oh, it really hurt, a piece of flesh was missing from my calf.
"Commander Zhu."
Li Jianghe bowed and said.
But Zhu Chi hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"What Brigade Commander Zhu? From now on, call me by my courtesy name, Youqing."
After saying that, he gestured for Li Jianghe to come closer and said with a troubled expression:
"Our brigade is severely understaffed on the front lines. Do you have sufficient troops at your disposal?"
Li Jianghe was prepared and immediately said:
"It's alright, I'll transfer the First Battalion over there. The battalion commander is Yang Ruifu, who originally came from your brigade. You'll definitely find him easy to use."
He knew very well that he could replenish his troops by summoning soldiers, but the 262nd Brigade couldn't do that.
Moreover, the subsequent battles will only become more intense. Li Jianghe's timely arrival with his troops was the only reason that the position was not lost. However, if Li Jianghe's side is also entangled with the Japanese army, the consequences will be quite serious.
Zhu Chi grasped his hand tightly, too excited to speak.
"Thank you so much, Jiang He! If I survive this battle, I will repay you tenfold!"
Meanwhile, on Suematsu Shigeharu's side, Tani Hisao had already arrived at the forward command post.
"Two days have passed, and now only one afternoon remains. Can we still capture the Yuhuatai position?"
Hisao Tani glanced at his watch, adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, and his gaze fell on Shigeharu Suematsu.
He had been watching the battle just now, and he originally thought he could win in one fell swoop, but he still failed at the last moment.
Suematsu Shigeharu said firmly:
"We can take it. After days of fierce fighting, the enemy has suffered heavy losses."
The Yuhuatai position was not very large, and the enemy could deploy no more than seven thousand troops.
Our army will concentrate its main force for a fierce attack this afternoon and will surely be able to take this place.
"Once Yuhuatai is captured, Zhonghuamen will be in our grasp as well."
He knew very well that Tani Hisao was just trying to get a bargain.
The entire Yuhuatai position is now in ruins, and the enemy's elite troops have been wiped out by their 114th Division.
The remaining remnants of the defeated army can surely be taken down this afternoon.
However, since there was still some time before the agreed-upon two-day deadline, Tani Hisao did not dare to seize power directly.
"Alright, I hope Suematsu-kun has good fortune in battle."
With that, Tani Hisao took his katana and walked toward the door.
After Tani Hisao and his entourage left, Chief of Staff Saburo Isoda whispered:
"The troops have completed their assembly and are ready to attack at any time."
Suematsu Shigeharu said:
"An hour later, the troops will launch an attack, and you will personally command them. I hope we can have dinner at Yuhuatai."
As he spoke, his gaze fell once again on Yuhuatai, which had long been ravaged by artillery shells, but the Kuomintang flag on the mountaintop was still fluttering.
That flag was like a nail driven into Shigeharu Suematsu's heart.
At the garrison headquarters, Chief of Staff Xiao Shen excitedly held the battle report from the Yuhuatai area.
"Li Jianghe and Zhu Chi's troops annihilated more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers, including two tank companies."
But these words did not make Tang Shengzhi very happy.
There are two main reasons.
First of all, Li Jianghe was a general whom he had repeatedly reprimanded. Now that the battle was going so well, it wasn't just slapping the Japanese in the butt, it was slapping Tang Shengzhi in the face.
Secondly, while the Yuhuatai direction is as stable as Mount Tai, the other directions are a different story.